Sunday, 24 November 2013

So what have
I been up to that’s been taking me away from this blog I love so much?

As well as currently
holding down a very demanding ‘day job’, I have been writing a long piece of
fiction. I’ve got more than 40,000 words down on paper, so I’m about half way
through. I’ve committed to finish it so I’m trying to devote most of my limited
free time to it. Yes, it does have an astrological angle, but not overtly
so.

Why
fiction? It came from a long ago germ of an idea born out of a conversation
with a stranger in a pub. I did quite a bit of work developing the idea at the
time and then the notes just sat in a drawer for a few years. It wouldn’t lay
down and rest though, it just nagged and nagged at me until finally I gave in and started writing. I’m pleased with progress so far and really enjoying immersing
myself in my story and its characters. I’m finding it a welcome release from the
very long, otherwise quite difficult Neptune transit I’m currently wading
through - five Squares from Neptune to my Gemini-Sag Nodes between 2012
finishing Jan 2014 and three Squares from Neptune to my Gemini ASC lasting
until early 2015. Perhaps a concurrent Sextile transit from Neptune to my 8th
house Capricorn Sun is helping me to be imaginative and receptive.

Needless to
say, my novel in progress is a dark story, but a deeply spiritual one. I find
it hard to drag myself away from that imaginary world to see to practical
matters such as earning enough money to pay the mortgage and so on. Neptune,
you don’t make it easy, do you? Oh and I’ve been getting health checks. All
clear so far thank goodness, but a good thing to do for a strong transit to the
ASC, especially as I also have Saturn transiting my 6th house.

There has
been a run of astrological based fiction lately.

Many of you
will know that a book based on astrology, The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, won
the prestigious Man Booker Prize this year. I’ve read mixed reviews, but haven’t
delved in myself yet. If any of you have read it I’d love to hear your opinion
from an astrological perspective as well as from a literary one.

The
wonderful Joyce Mason of The Radical Virgo blog has just launched her new
novel, The Crystal Ball,a mystery featuring an intriguing crime
busting duo, one of whom is an
astrologer and the other a gun toting ex-FBI agent. I’ve just downloaded it as I’ve
been writing this and can’t wait to get stuck in. I love Joyce’s writing style
and unique tone of voice so I’m definitely in for a treat.

Also on my reading list is Ecliptic by Sara Lunardi, an intriguing urban fantasy which sees
a brother and sister wake up one morning miles apart with strange tattoos of
the astrological constellations on their arms. This awakens them to a dangerous
mission to save the planet and all its inhabitants.

Back in the world of real astrology, I’m thrilled
to see that Donna Cunningham is back with her new book The Stellium Handbook,
another essential for my reading list.

Two Doctors for the price of one

Now, I swing back into fantasy again (Neptune
transit, remember?) to show you a chart quickly. If you didn’t know it was the
50th Anniversary of Doctor Who last night, then what planet are you on?

The first ever episode was entitled An Adventure in Space
and Time. The original time travelling Doctor was played by William Hartnell as
an older authoritarian figure, a Time Lord. How fitting to see Saturn in
Aquarius on the MC for the chart of the show’s first broadcast? It’s also a
good symbol for the longevity of this much loved sci-fi show. A Sun-Mercury-Venus-Mars
stellium in Sagittarius is also perfect for the galaxy trotting adventurer and
his companion, perfect for broadening one’s horizons, for fostering a
fascination with alien races and for seeing the (much) bigger picture. And in
the 6th house, we are reminded that Doctor Who’s ultimate mission is to
alleviate the suffering of mankind, to deliver hope. Venus on the DC is also great for
popularity. See also the Moon in Aquarius close to the MC and Saturn? The original
Doctor Who was a progressive production indeed. It was produced by Verity
Lambert who at the time was the only female producer at the
BBC and directed by Waris Hussein, its first Indian-born director.

Broadcast of the 1st Episode of Doctor Who (click on chart to enlarge)

The original TV listing

Now a brief admin update: I have taken down
www.mandilockley.com for now. It pretty much became redundant once I started
this blog and now I’m branching out into fiction I need to rethink my strategy.
I’m sure there will be a shiny new website at some point, but it will be a
while yet and you’ll be the first to hear. In the meantime if you want to get
in touch: mandi_lockley@hotmail.com

Saturday, 5 October 2013

At the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, on the sea bed, over half a mile down, there lies an underwater lake, with a lapping tide, a curving shoreline and a surface easily discernible from the surrounding sea water.

How can that be? It's underwater?

It turns out that the water in the 'lake' is a thick briny soup, much heavier than regular sea water and that its 'beach' is made up of a vast colony of mussels. This habitat has evolved a completely new ecosystem, full of previously undiscovered species of flora and fauna and so deep under the water that it functions without the life giving energies of the Sun. Instead it is fuelled by bacteria and methane.

So far we have explored just 1% of the ocean floor, so who knows what else is out there to be discovered. It feels like a metaphor for the unknowable parts of our subconscious. And mysterious impossible lakes beneath the sea? It feels like we are swimming in Neptune's kingdom.

When we're experiencing a Neptune transit, or dealing with challenging natal Neptune aspects activated by a transit from another planet, we can feel the drag and the weight of our own metaphorical underwater lake, the depths of our subconscious. It pulls us down towards own heavy, dark, alien, undiscovered places. Environments that we'd probably rather not explore.

Do we dive right into the murky depths to find what's underneath? Not that easy and maybe not even advisable for some of us, but we might decide after some hesitation that resistance is futile and let ourselves be dragged wherever our psyches lead us. Or do we float on the surface of our lake, rest there a while and see where the tide takes us, trying not to go under. Maybe we hover around the shoreline, looking in but not touching? Perhaps we don't go there at all and stay near the surface of our regular ocean, our conscious emotions, where we can still see the Sun and breathe the air. Whatever choice we make, and maybe its not a conscious choice, we are driven by our instincts. Logic and reason can't help us.

That thick, heavy, swampy water in the underwater lake can be read as a metaphor for the deep ancient emotions that we have denied or forgotten, but ones we have carried with us nevertheless. If we stir that water, those emotions will become disturbed, eventually bubbling up to the surface, ultimately releasing and dissolving the toxins, but making us deal with the emotional pollution that is the by-product of the process.

Neptune demands that we put our faith in the unknown, but it is as likely to punish us for doing so (disappointment, disillusionment, delusion) as it is to reward us (spiritual awakening, cleansing of the spirit, belief, creative inspiration, the awakening of compassion).

But we still must take our chances, because we soon learn that to resist is to invite unnecessary suffering. Our Neptune transit (or transit to Neptune) reminds us that, like the underwater lake under the Gulf of Mexico, life is a mystery and that often we are even a mystery to ourselves.

And now for some Saturn news

It's a year to the day since Saturn moved into Scorpio and I would like extend to a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has bought my e-book Saturn in Scorpio: Your Guide Through The Dark and for the positive feedback. I hope it's been an interesting and helpful read.

Monday, 1 July 2013

This is a stunning book to look at and
fortunately its content more than lives up to its beauty.

The title gives away a secret most people
don’t know - that astrology is a language, one rich in symbolism and myth with a
history spanning some 5000 years or more.

Starting right at the beginning, Roy Gillett’s
book offers a concise, but comprehensive exploration of the ancient origins and
development of astrology, taking us right up to the present day. He explores
astrology’s current reputation, how and why it’s been dismissed by both
religion and science and why we should reconsider astrology as a vital tool for
understanding not just ourselves, but our world and our collective place within
it.

“The cycle of the heavens, and of each individual consciousness within
it, may be seen as a reflection of one unified world soul.”

However, what most people new to astrology picking
up this book will be asking is what does
astrology say about me?In this respect, The Secret Language of Astrologywill not let you down.

Just like learning a new language, Gillett
breaks it down into its basic components, starting with the planets and exploring the astrological themes,
mythology and astronomy of each planet in turn.

In the language of astrology, the planets are like
nouns and the zodiac signs describe how the planet will behave according to the
sign it falls in. For example, Mars is the planet of action. In impulsive Aries
it will act “bravely and aggressively”, but in peace-loving Libra, it will act “urgently
and defensively.” The Houses are also explored, the next building block in the
astro-lingo, describing the arena each planet has to operate within.

Then comes the fun of putting it all together.
Fortunately, now we are in the internet age, this book
is supported by a website where you can draw up your birth chart instantly, so
within minutes you can take your first steps into delineating your Sun in
Cancer in the 10th House or your Mercury in Taurus in the 8th and so on.

Once you’ve got your birth chart online
though, I would also recommend, if you are new to astrology, that you draw your
own chart out by hand. This process really helps you connect with your
chart and it’s a fabulous document to look back on years down the line. I still
have mine, painstakingly calculated and drawn out.

Taking it further, this book will also
help you explore the relationships the planets make to each other in your chart - the aspects. This is the space where your personal story, your challenges and opportunities
really start to come alive through the astrology.

The final chapter deals with how to put
it all together. This is where the art of astrology comes in. It's the part that takes the longest to master but the one that promises the most
rewards, as the chart slowly unfolds and offers up its secrets. Lucky for us, this section of Gillett's fine book is chock full of tips and hints, along with
a masterful and detailed exploration of the chart of the Dalai Lama. Gillett
also tackles what he calls The Challenge
to Transcend, how difficult aspects and planetary placements do not
necessarily spell doom, gloom and failure, but present an opportunity to overcome
challenges and obstacles and find success and fulfilment:

“We
are destined to face our future, but we are not doomed to suffer it… Astrology
lays out the territory of our lives, but we have the freedom to choose how we
walk through it. Knowing about astrology can make it easier for us to map and
monitor progress, and to be clear about the decisions we face. It is the motives
behind our actions that largely determine the outcome.”

For the beginner or novice, this is a
must have book. If it’s your first astrology book, I can guarantee it won’t be
your last. It will start you on your path to discovery so you’d better start
clearing a space on your shelf now. Once you’ve looked at your own chart and enthusiastically
shared your insights with your nearest and dearest, you’ll soon be bombarded
with requests to look at their charts and your journey into this most wondrous
of self-development tools will be well on its way.

For the more experienced astrologer,
this book might seem basic at first glance, but don’t dismiss it. I guarantee
you will discover something new or something you’d forgotten. And at a time
when ‘serious’ astrology is becoming more and more academic (and there is a
place for that, of course) this beautiful book provides an excuse to go right
back to the beginning and re-discover the sense of awe, wonder and magic we all
felt when we first started out on our astrological adventure.

Tuesday, 25 June 2013

Well, Jupiter moves signs this week, a yearly event which is always a cause for optimism.

After just over a year in Gemini, the planet of growth, hope and expansion, moves into watery, sensitive, moony Cancer.

The major themes of Jupiter in Cancer are explored below and where Jupiter touches something in our chart we are presented with an opportunity:

~ A chance for integration and self expression where Jupiter touches planets in Cancer by Conjunction~ Easy creativity and emotional flow, if we're prepared to tap into it, when it Trines planets in Scorpio and Pisces~ Opportunity knocks when it aspects planets in Taurus and Virgo by Sextile, but it's up to us to seize it when it comes~ A chance to overcome challenges and breeze through obstacles a bit more easily when it Squares planets in Aries and Libra~ An opportunity to reach out to others and improve relationships when it Opposes planets in Capricorn

Tips for your Jupiter transit: ~ You need to put a little effort into it, so if opportunity comes a-knocking, don't forget to answer the door. You've got to be in it to win it!~ Don't court disappointment by expecting too much. Jupiter transits don't tend to be transformative, but they can make life a little easier and help set you on your way~ Your Jupiter in Cancer transit may coincide with a transit from another planet, such as Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto or Chiron, particularly if your transited planet or point falls early in its sign...~ ...If this is the case, Jupiter may expand and inflate the influence of that transit. It may add a sense of purpose and responsibility to a Saturn transit for example, intensify a Pluto transit, exaggerate/stimulate a Uranus transit or glamorise/discombobulate a Neptune transit~ Cancer is cardinal sign. It calls for action. It's up to you to answer the call, but your patience could be tested if you don't see immediate or far reaching results.Why Jupiter into Cancer is an important ingress:

First up, it's not in Gemini any more. In the tradition, Gemini is the sign of Jupiter's detriment so it wasn't very comfortable there. In Cancer it is much, much happier. It is exalted.

To exalt, according to the dictionary, is to extol - glorify - elevate - praise - raise - extol - honour. Jupiter just loves that! In essence, in this sign its influence is more positive.

Secondly, Jupiter in Cancer makes significant connections with other current planetary alignments. Here's an edited extract from my Saturn in Scorpio book, which places these alignments in the bigger picture:

Between October 2012 and July 2013, Saturn in Scorpio forms a Trine
aspect with Neptune in compassionate Pisces. During the course of this Trine,
the human effect of all the change and disruption we’ve been experiencing in
the world will become more and more obvious and its victims harder to ignore.
We will be made to understand the emotional effects that the long running
financial crisis has reaped. For those sitting safe, it will be easy to sweep
this under the carpet, but hopefully this Trine will inspire individuals and
the collective to feel compassion for those who are suffering and take some
responsibility for supporting them.

In June 2013, ethical Jupiter moves into Cancer and forms a
Water Grand Trine with Saturn and Neptune. If we are being optimistic,
throughout Saturn Trine Neptune, but especially while Jupiter is in the picture,
we can predict peaceful resolutions, treaties, new understandings and a more
compassionate idea of morality. This is an opportunity to show that we care and
to do something practical about it. If we want to be cautious, we should be
wary of those who merely pay lip service to compassionate actions and
humanitarian causes, while surreptitiously pursuing their own agenda.

At the same time that Jupiter in Cancer forms a Grand Trine
with Saturn and Neptune, it also opposes Pluto and Squares Uranus, forming a
cardinal T-Square. This links the Grand Trine with the Uranus-Pluto Squares,
giving the closed-circuit energy of the Grand Trine a channel for release. The hope
here should be that the reactionary, rebellious nature of the Square will be
injected with a loathing for violence and a longing for peace and harmony. This
could turn into a new mass movement, perhaps marking out the summer of 2013 as
the new summer of love.

Looking at it from a less positive perspective, this Grand
Trine could also open the way for floods, landslides, tsunamis and other water
based calamities.

The Grand Trine could also dilute the forceful message of
Uranus Square Pluto, causing disillusionment, misplaced idealism and deception.
While Uranus and Pluto are busy re-writing the rule book, Saturn in Scorpio
provides the opportunity for society’s powerful to furtively re-write their
own, secret, rule book, thus rooting their control over the rest of us ever
deeper.

Jupiter in Cancerwill exaggerate the effects of Uranus Square Pluto and Saturn Trine Neptune.The major themes of Jupiter in Cancer explored. These can be applied personally to your own chart or to world events:

the wise mother / mom knows best / super mom

moral and ethical issues around motherhood and childbirth

family values

the extended family

protecting one's family and oneself, which is essential but can be detrimental if taken too far

To celebrate my Jupiter Return I discounted my e-book Saturn in Scorpio: Your Guide Through the Dark until the end of June, but because I'm excited about Jupiter moving into Cancer and because it will be making a nice opposition to my Sun in early Capricorn, I'm extending the sale to 14th July.

It is now available on Kindle from Amazon at $3.99 and equivalent in other currencies (normal price $5.99) or you can buy a PDF via PayPal direct from this blog for £4or equivalent (normal price £7), just click the Buy Now button at the top right of this page. Please note all PDF orders are sent out manually so there may be a delay of up to 24 hours between placing your order and receiving your book.

Sunday, 16 June 2013

I
can’t think of Nelson Mandela without the Free
Nelson Mandela tune popping into my head. Released in 1984, it was a
protest song against his imprisonment for opposing
the apartheid South African government.

Mandela has a Moon-Uranus Square in his birth chart, an
aspect of freedom, independence and rebellion. In Mandela’s case, his early
years were nothing less than a rebellion against his mother country.
Moon-Uranus is not an aspect you would expect to suit someone who spent 27
years incarcerated. And it’s not. But Mandela was a political prisoner and with his Moon in tenacious, unyielding
Scorpio, he never gave up on his ideals. Eventually, his time inside became an
act of protest in itself and this no doubt helped to sustain him.

Click to enlarge

The Moon falls in the 12th, the house
associated with imprisonment. With this placement comes the need to feel and
understand sacrifice, to serve, to surrender oneself to something greater, but
with the Moon in Scorpio in its Fall, this happens the hard way, the long-
winded way. He needed to hold fast to the courage and strength of his
convictions. Notice that the Moon also Squares Mercury and Saturn in Leo in the
9th House. This is an aspect pattern which suggests a stubborn
adherence to one’s highest ideals and the patience required to do so. It also
suggests internationalism (9th House) and it was in part due to mounting anti-apartheid pressure
from abroad that Mandela eventually regained his freedom.

Mandela’s Sun in Cancer falls in his 8th House.
An 8th House Sun draws its energy from deep inner resources. 8th
House Sun people can feel socially isolated, literally in Mandela’s case for 27
years of his life. It is, however, through the experience of isolation and also
through the experience of crisis that Sun in the 8th people can eventually find
the strength to emerge from the shadows transformed and able to live life in
full light. And Mandela did this to the max. It wasn’t enough for him or for
the world for him just to be free. He was the leader of a banned political
party, the ANC, before he went to jail and within a few years of his release, as
the leader of a now legal ANC, he was elected as the first black president of
South Africa. This also fulfilled the higher promise of Mercury-Saturn in Leo
in the 9th square Moon in the 12th and widely opposing Uranus in Aquarius in
the 3rd.

The astrology is neatly summed up in the titles of his
two of his books, The Struggle is My Life
and Long Walk to Freedom as do the
following quotes:

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way
that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass
through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the
mountaintop of our desires.

A Sun-Moon Trine suggests a personality that needs to
feel at peace with itself. It can be a remarkably strong willed aspect when it
comes to getting what it wants, but has a veneer of amiability that tends to make
people with this aspect popular and easy to get along with.

Mandela also carries a generational Jupiter Conjunct
Pluto in Cancer aspect in his chart. It falls in his 7th House and
therefore speaks of his public persona, how he is received by others. The
conjunction is the start of a whole new cycle for these two planets. The
graphic above includes the major themes of the alignment and all of them
are easy to relate to Mandela’s life. It’s associated with a deep questioning of
received values, morals and ethics; power struggles, shifts in power and the
desire for power; wealth and influence; faith and belief; zealotry; the
emergence of new philosophies; the powerful urge for change and being a law
unto oneself. Certainly, Mandela has become a totem for these

qualities, acting
them out, bringing them into the world.This is helped along by the fact that Jupiter sits on the private
becomes public Aries point, with its placement in the 7th House
making a double whammy of thrust towards the public arena. Where the personal
comes in is from is a very tight Sesquiquadrate between the Moon and Pluto and
a tight Mercury-Jupiter Semisquare. His public facing side is further
underlined by the presence of Venus on his 7th House cusp. In double sided
Gemini, it represents on the one hand the immense public popularity and
positive acknowledgement he has come to enjoy and on the other hand, given that
Venus Trines Uranus, it is an indication of how the attention he received riled
and threatened the establishment in his early career.

The 27 years he was in jail represents pretty much an
entire Saturn cycle. It is fitting that transiting Saturn was opposing his
natal Neptune at the start of his incarceration in August 1962. Additionally,
transiting Pluto and Secondary Progressed Sun were just past his MC. This transit
marks out this time as a major milestone period in his life, suggesting a significant
shift in status.

On his release in February 1990, transiting Pluto had
just entered his 12th house, Squaring his 9th House
Mercury-Saturn conjunction and widely applying to conjunct his Moon. These
transits are a symbol of needs and ideals powerfully transformed and given
power.

In 1993, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, jointly
with Frederik Willem de Klerk (South

Africa’s last apartheid-era President),
for their work towards the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime. Mandela's transits for the December ceremony include healing Chiron on the MC and Saturn
conjunct natal Uranus, marking a zenith moment for the rebel being embraced by
an old order (represented by de Klerk) who were finally embracing the powerful
forces of change. There was also a rather fitting buildup of transiting planets
– Sun, Venus, Mercury, North Node and Pluto – in Mandela’s 12th
House.

Upon his election as President of South Africa, in early
May 1994, Neptune and Uranus were opposing his Sun and Saturn had recently made
the first pass of its transit to his IC. Transiting Chiron was still in the midst
of its series of conjunctions with his MC, a transit that symbolised the healing
that needed to be done in South Africa after many years of apartheid and was
also an apt symbol for the final acceptance of Mandela, the former maverick, into
his full power and influence.

There’s no doubt Mandela has had a long and singularly
remarkable life, one which is reflected powerfully in his birth chart and
transits. Once dubbed a dangerous and violent threat, he rose to become one of
modern history’s most transformative leaders, described by Desmond Tutu as “the beloved father of
our nation” His current illness, as transiting Neptune approaches
his IC, is a reminder that while this popular and influential figure cannot live forever, his
legend will never be forgotten.

Sunday, 9 June 2013

Call me an old curmudgeon if you like, but the Jupiter Return feels like one of those celebratory occasions that force us to be jolly, whether we want to be or not. These days promise so much, but deliver so little. For me, they include New Year's Eve (it's just a date) and Christmas. The pre-crimbo stress and expense rarely seems worth it and the magic feels sadly absent, but perhaps that's because it only really exists in the Hollywood version. Birthdays also come under this category for me, but no doubt that's because my birthday falls on Christmas day, when everyone is too busy to make the effort or give a s**t, myself included.

I sound very Saturnian, at its grumpiest best, don't I? Certainly I don't sound like someone who has a sort-of maybe Sun-Jupiter aspect in my birth chart. Perhaps I should explain a little bit more about my Jupiter and Jupiter in Gemini generally, so you know where I'm coming from.

Jupiter in Gemini is in its detriment, meaning that it can't easily function to its optimum level in this sign. Jupiter in our chart speaks about how we express and pursue faith; hope; optimism; growth; opportunity; prosperity; morality; higher understanding and the higher self. In Gemini, Jupiter needs help, support and focus to express these qualities.

Gemini's energies can be too scattered and superficial for Jupiter. At worst, Gemini can lack the moral compass required to get the most out of Jupiter. However, there will be times when the Jupiter in Gemini native will seem to 'get it' and we see a glimpse of the best that Jupiter can offer, but it's very often at that moment that Jupiter in Gemini seems to get bored, or restless, or will tap into its self-sabotaging twin, or whatever, and will revert to some of the less attractive expressions of Jupiter.

Those with Jupiter in Gemini are also at risk of suffering from anxiety, or at the least will worry too much and overanalyse everything. Because of this, it's difficult to trust in oneself and in the world in general. It can be hard to make decisions based on the instinctual higher mind. Instead, it's easy to make what seem like rational decisions, but which are in fact not, because the lower, worry-full monkey mind has made the decision maker lose perspective on the issue at hand.

But life is nothing if not a journey of discovery, growth and learning, so a mistake made is a lesson for future success and those scattered Gemini energies can sometimes come together quite magically for Jupiter in Gemini people or those experiencing a transit from Jupiter in Gemini. Communication is key for this placement, connections need to be made, shared and verbalised. Through doing this, we can connect to something bigger than ourselves. In this space life becomes infinitely more meaningful.

My own Jupiter at 25 degrees of Gemini falls in my 1st House. That almost-maybe aspect to my Sun is an Opposition. It's just over 8 degrees in orb, out of sign and separating. That's why I don't count it. Sun-Jupiter natives are supposed to be over-confident, jolly, bubbly, bouncy, super-optimistic, indulgent. While I like to think I have many fine qualities, I wouldn't say they include any of the above. Consider that my Sun is in Capricorn in the 8th House! Jupiter in Gemini in detriment needs help and it's not going to get much from my Sun!

My Jupiter has a much more intimate relationship with my Mercury in Sagittarius. This planetary pair in these signs are in mutual reception (each falls in the other planet's detriment). Mercury, therefore is where Jupiter in Gemini in detriment must look to for its support. The trouble is, Mercury in Sagittarius is also in detriment, so its a bit like the blind leading the blind. What this mutual reception and alignment (the two planets are in a 165 degree Quindecile aspect) begs me to do though is communicate effectively. This is both an obsession and a challenge. I have had times, particularly when I was younger, when I was so quiet I was almost mute, but as I get older there are more and more times when my mouth runs away with me and it takes a great deal of perceptiveness to know when to shut up. Often I'll say the wrong thing or be too honest and hurt the other person. Then there's the feeling that nobody's listening anyway. I wrote about this in The Curse of Mercury in Sagittarius.

The lesson is to find the perfect balance between quietness and noise. To speak up when needed and to recognise when it's time to let the silence speak. I strive to communicate with an open mind, intelligently, diplomatically and elegantly. I try not to worry too much and I try to have hope. I don't always get it right, but I do mean well. Perhaps this is the message for my Jupiter Return.

A Shameless Plug and a Special Offer:

To help me 'celebrate' my Jupiter Return I'm discounting my e-book Saturn in Scorpio: Your Guide Through the Dark until the end of June. It is now available on Kindle from Amazon at $3.99 and equivalent in other currencies (normal price $5.99) or you can buy a PDF via PayPal direct from this blog for £4or equivalent (normal price £7), just click the Buy Now button at the top right. Please note all PDF orders are sent out manually so there may be a delay of up to 24 hours between placing your order and receiving your book.

Here's a bit of blurb to whet your appetite:

Find out how you and your
loved ones may be affected by Saturn in Scorpio.
Saturn in the intense, inscrutable and controlled sign of Scorpio may feel
worrying, especially given the disruptive and unsettling changes the world and
many individuals are facing.

This new book from Mandi Lockley - Saturn in Scorpio: Your Guide Through The
Dark - is designed to help you successfully navigate the cold and deep waters
of this transit and tap into its healing and transformative potential.

The major themes of Saturn in Scorpio are explored in-depth including issues of
safety, fear and control; sex and intimacy; the power of love; rejection,
anger, vengeance and forgiveness; the power of the unconscious and money, debt
and taxes.

Discover how these themes and more may be relevant to you personally and how
best to cope with them, but also discover how they will be reflected in the
wider world.

Anxious about your Saturn transit? Saturn in Scorpio’s transit to your own
birth chart is covered in detail, including its transit through your natal
houses and to your planets. Many books and websites deal with astrological
Saturn in general and Saturn transits in particular, but this book is
specifically tailored to the unique experience of Saturn in Scorpio. It also
includes an extended section on Saturn to Saturn transiting contacts and the
Saturn Return.

This comprehensive astrological guide also examines how Saturn in Scorpio fits
into other current and upcoming major planetary alignments including the
ongoing revolutionary and disruptive Uranus-Pluto Squares and the
Jupiter-Saturn-Neptune Grand Trine of 2013. Find out how we might see these
energies manifest in the world around us.

Saturn in Scorpio: Your Guide Through The Dark also includes a bonus chapter on
the Secondary Progressed Moon cycle - an important and very personal cycle of
emotional maturity - and explains how it links with your personal Saturn cycle.

This book is suitable for all levels of astrological knowledge. Whether you are
a beginner to astrology, a serious student, or a consulting astrologer working
with clients, Saturn in Scorpio: Your Guide Through The Dark will be a valuable
resource to help you through this challenging transit.

For the beginner, the book has instructions on how to calculate your Saturn
transit and includes a Saturn in Scorpio ephemeris, for quick and easy
calculation.

What readers have said:

Get this book! It will be a go to reference that you’ll return to again and again. Auntie Moon“Just to tell you
how much I am enjoying your e-book ‘Saturn in Scorpio: Your Guide Through The
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It is worth every cent.” ME via Facebook

“I’ve purchased this e-book and can recommend it very highly. She’s an
accessible writer. I’ve gone though it forwards and back, and re-read many
passages over again, and each time I gather a bit more. It’s great to find a
writer you can feel like quoting.” EJR, online“I finished reading it, loved it, and will be re-reading it to my other half
who has his Saturn return looming.” LL via Facebook“I find it to be a wonderful
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themes in a positive, more conscious manner. This e-book is just in time!” NR
via email

“I’m in a heavy
Saturn period and everything she said rang true, even things I don’t want to
admit or face. But that’s what Saturn in Scorpio is for, right? Book Rec at
ElsaElsa Boards

“Bought it,
downloaded and read it (well most of it) and it rang true indeed. I liked it.
Very good read.” ES, online

Tuesday, 26 March 2013

Back in October 2011 I looked at the transits for Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito upon their acquittal of the murder of Meredith Kercher (you can see relevant highlights from that article below and the full article here).

It was announced today that their acquittal has been overturned and a retrial will take place.

Perhaps we should not be surprised. That sleeping dogs shall not be allowed to lie, seems to have become a trademark of Saturn in Scorpio in mutual reception and sextile with Pluto in Capricorn. That, along with the game-changing shocking twists and turns we have come to associate with the on-going Uranus-Pluto Squares, has facilitated the uncovering of dark and long kept secrets and forced us to face unpalatable truths.

These planetary alignments suggest that the truth will now finally be dragged out one way or another in this tragic case. For the sake of Kercher’s family most of all, but also for Knox and Sollecito. If they are innocent, as they insist they are, they can finally prove it and move on. If they are guilty, then the re-opening of this case provides the now or never moment to convict them once and for all.

Knox has a powerful Cardinal Grand Cross in her chart: Venus at 4 Cancer, Mercury at 7 Cancer, Neptune at 6 Capricorn and the Moon's Nodes at 6 Aries and Libra (scroll down to see the chart).

Tomorrow’s Libra Full Moon at 7 Libra hits Knox’s Grand Cross exactly. This is a further suggestion that the truth will finally out, for the Moon at its fullest is the Moon in full light. There’s nowhere to hide, everything is seen. This is not a lunation for running, hiding or ‘getting away with it.’

Libra Full Moon March 27, 2013. Chart set for Perugia, Italy where the original crime was perpetrated. Click on the image to enlarge.

We would also expect to see at least two of transiting Saturn in Scorpio, Pluto in Capricorn or Uranus in Aries making contact with Knox’s chart, if we are looking for further indication that the truth of this case is ready to be revealed. Indeed, transiting Saturn in Scorpio is currently making a series of conjunctions with her natal Pluto. Its second hit to her Pluto, the retrograde hit (a transit VERY appropriate for a re-look at this criminal case) is due to occur in early May this year. Saturn to Pluto is a hard, hard transit. Loss on any level can be felt at this time. Transiting Uranus is at 8 Aries, making tight contact to her Grand Cross, most exactly to communication planet Mercury, which opposes Neptune, an aspect suggesting deception, fantasy and idealism at play on some level.

Other current transits that hit her Grand Cross include Venus at 6 Aries. Picking up the Full Moon a little wide, but still part of the picture is Mars at 11 Aries and Pluto at 11 Capricorn. Pluto hasn’t quite finished with Knox yet, it will retrograde back just far enough to clip her natal Mercury later this year.

So, it doesn’t look great for Knox. I don’t know enough about the case to conjecture on her innocence or guilt, but either way she should brace herself for a rough ride because the truth will out.

You can also see Sollecito’s chart below. It’s his birthday today! He too has a strong pick up with the current transits. His Sun at 5 Aries picks up the Full Moon and all the other current Aries planets you can see in the Full Moon chart above. Uranus in Aries has finished its transit to his Sun, but transiting Pluto in Capricorn is currently exact on his natal Jupiter, a transit that lasts until January next year. He can also look forward to his Saturn return in Scorpio later this year, a time to face reality and take responsibility. If he's done something wrong he's not going to get away with it. If hasn't then he will be justly absolved.

It's also worth noting that the Saturn in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn relationship is associated with the uncovering of crimes of a sexual nature, most notably in the Jimmy Savile case. Sex plays a part in the Kercher murder, with evidence the victim was sexually assaulted. It has been suggested that her death was caused by some kind of brutal sex game gone wrong.

Knox’s transits are perhaps more dramatic, but that is as you would expect, with her Cardinal Grand Cross comprising Mercury, Venus and Neptune and the Nodes. She has always been the ‘face’ of this case and its main focus in the media.

Edited highlights from my October 2011 post: The reversal of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito’s conviction for the murder of Meredith Kercher was a story which gripped and polarised the public and the media. Whether the pair really had anything to do with the murder we may perhaps never know and that’s not a subject I’m going to speculate about here. When fascinated me about their story is how the timing for the original conviction, the appeal and their eventual release key in to the timing of major outer planet alignments, namely Saturn Square Pluto, Saturn opposite Uranus and the incoming Uranus Square Pluto. Both Sollecito and Knox have had these alignments touching their charts by transit, with Knox in particular experiencing them very strongly.On 4th December 2009, Knox and Sollecito were convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. This conviction occurred very close to Saturn’s first exact square to Pluto at 2 degrees Libra and Capricorn in November 2009. Saturn and Pluto’s next exact alignment was at the end of January 2010 at 4 degrees of Libra and Capricorn. For both of them, Saturn and Pluto were transiting personal planets in their charts.Saturn-Pluto transits can seem, at least on the psychological level, to take away our freedom and our free will. In the case of Knox and Sollecito, the loss of freedom was literal. In fact, losses on any level can occur under this transit. It tends to be a time of forced change, fear, pressure, negativity, crisis, restriction and a psychological journey to the underworld.We may feel that invisible forces are working against us, that we are fighting for survival on some level. Even as our personal power is taken away, we need to find the strength to carry on, to work hard and then even harder to face and banish our demons. For this we need courage, strength and staying power. We need to tap into inner and outer resources to help us through. The charts below show how the Saturn and Pluto square picked up on personal planets in Knox and Sollecito's birth charts. Knox has Venus at 4 degrees of Cancer, so just after the conviction transiting Pluto was exactly opposing her Venus, with Saturn squaring her Venus. She also has Mercury conjunct Venus, with Neptune in early Capricorn opposing from the public seventh house. The Moon’s Nodes, in early Aries and Libra, complete a dynamic, but no doubt stressful cardinal grand cross.With Pluto and Saturn transiting this grand cross it’s not surprising that she has been called a liar, a manipulator, a seductress, violent, perverted and a she-devil, but imagine having to face your demons when the world is naming you as the demon!

Click to enlarge

Sollecito has his Sun at 5 degrees Aries squaring Neptune at 1 Capricorn, within orb of the Saturn-Pluto squares of late 2009 and spring/summer 2010. While he has attracted less attention than Knox, the Saturn-Pluto transit to his Sun and Neptune is telling. Was he a victim in all this or was he deceiving everyone when he proclaimed his innocence? It’s hard to tell with that Sun-Neptune square, except to mention that it is reasonable to expect martyrdom on some level, or at least the sacrifice of the ego, with this aspect, especially so because both the Sun and Neptune are angular in his chart.

Click to enlarge

We all know that in life nothing is forever and like life, transits are temporal. With Saturn-Pluto transits, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, with the eventual promise of empowerment and emancipation, but not before a lot of hard work and a lot of seemingly endless patience. Sollecito and Knox‘s legal teams filed appeals against their convictions in April 2010 and the appeal process began in December 2010. It was during the time between the filing of the appeal and the actual appeal that the Saturn-Pluto squares and the ongoing, status-quo upsetting Saturn-Uranus oppositions formed what has been widely dubbed by astrologers as the cardinal climax – a t-square in the early cardinal planets that had been building since 2008 and has come to symbolise shocks, changes, intense challenges, restriction, losses and hard, hard work. They won their appeal against their murder conviction and were freed on October 3rd 2011. By now, Saturn has moved out of the picture, with the much anticipated Uranus-Pluto square forming. On the day of their release, Uranus was at 2 Aries and Pluto at 5 Capricorn, connecting with the cardinal planets in their charts very closely. Under Uranus-Pluto moving aspects we demand freedom, we question authority, we don’t accept the letter of the law and we won’t tolerate being controlled. We want to feel free to do what we want to do and we want to make a difference.Knox’s father summed up Saturn-Pluto followed by Uranus-Pluto perfectly, "she's almost kind of reborn in a way. I mean, living for four years inside a concrete and steel, you know, prison, and now being able to kind of just look around, smell the air and - and just do what she wants to do, hopefully when she wants to do it, it makes a huge difference." (quote from cbsnews.com) With love,Mandiwww.mandilockley.comChart data from Astrodatabank.

Sunday, 24 February 2013

When a new work by renowned street artist Banksy appeared on the side of a Poundland store in London's Wood Green, locals were thrilled and the Council was quick to express its support and enthusiasm.

The piece appeared overnight on 13/14 May 2012 and is thought to be a comment on child slave labour and on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

I live about a mile from Wood Green High Road. It's not an attractive or exciting shopping hub, but it serves its community well. It's been hit by the economic recession and was badly looted and vandalised during the riots of 2011. The appearance of a Banksy was a real boost, something to feel proud about.

Wood Green during the 2011 riots

Click to enlarge. Time unknown

At its surprise appearance (chart above), the Moon was in Pisces, joining Neptune and Chiron (art healing the people). The Sun joined opportunistic Jupiter in materialistic Taurus. Mercury was also in Taurus in an Earth Grand Trine with Mars in Virgo and Pluto in Capricorn. This Trine along with the Taurus concentration describes what happened next very well.

Inner wheel, Bansky appearance. Outer wheel, Banksy disappearance

Overnight on 16th February 2013 the artwork was removed from the wall, leaving an ugly scar. Poundland denied all knowledge and lawyers representing the owners of the building refused to comment. The artwork then appeared up for auction in Miami, expected to sell for upwards of £450k.

Big business (Capricorn) profiting (Taurus) at the expense of the 'little people' (Virgo).

At the approximate time of the 'theft', the Moon was in Taurus opposing Saturn in nefarious Scorpio (the money theme again) connecting with Mars in the chart for the artwork's appearance. Mercury and Mars were by now joining Neptune and Chiron in Pisces. Venus (art appreciation) is in cause-loving, 'for the people' Aquarius.

The story has spread far and wide. Locals and the Council are campaigning for the return of the street art to their community. Passionate supporters have bombarded the auction house with angry calls and posted outraged comments on its Facebook page. Nobody has claimed responsibility for taking it, so it is unclear (Pisces) whether it was stolen or removed legitimately. Even Scotland Yard and the FBI became involved.

The latest exciting development this morning (with Moon in attention grabbing Leo) is that the auction house, Fine Art Auctions Miami, confirmed that at the very last mimute they withdrew the piece, along with another Banksy, from sale. A turnaround reflected by stationary Mercury, still in Pisces, and ready for its retrograde later today.

It's also interesting to note that the strong Taurus (money) theme from the previous two charts is missing from the chart of the sale withdrawal.

What next? Wood Green wants its Banksy back. Will it be returned to its community or quietly sold to a private buyer? Watch out for news around March 3, when Mercury moves back to 15 Pisces in its retrograde, the degree of the theft. Also, around April 3, when Mercury hits that point again in its forward motion.

I would like to see it back in the community, so all can share and enjoy it.

Wood Green 24 February 2013

Meanwhile, a collage of new graffiti has appeared on the side of Poundland, proving that when you create a space it never remains empty for long. It's thought that the small rat asking Why? is another Banksy original.